Let's be honest. That game between the New Orleans Saints and Jacksonville Jaguars had to rank among the most boring of all-time, especially a game that ended with a thrilling score of 27-24, with the Jaguars scoring the winning touchdown in the final minute.

View full sizeDavid Grunfeld / The Times-PicayuneNew Orleans Saints defensive back Elbert Mack (44) miss tackles Jacksonville Jaguars running back Rashad Jennings (23) during the first home preseason game in Superdome, Friday August 17, 2012.

I admit there were a few exceptions to what seemed like perpetual boredom -- when Chase Daniel found Joe Morgan for 53 yards to make it 17-17, when Daniel hit Travaris Cadet for 24 yards to put the Saints on top, 24-20.

Other than that, for most of four hours, it was like watching an ongoing timeout as NFL replacement officials dotted the Superdome's green carpet with yellow flags, usually followed by an announcement: "The play is under further review."

On and on it went.

It was as if the music had stopped along with the clock.

Near the end, with third-stringers facing one another, it seemed to take an hour for the Jaguars to move 74 yards in 12 plays in its last series, by which time most of the audience had sleep-walked through the exits.

I couldn't wait to hear Coach Joe Vitt's assessment on what he witnessed when first-stringers were on the field.

It came as no surprise to be told Joe was unhappy about the manner in which the defense failed to tackle the man carrying the football.

Coach Vitt, you see, has lived this preseason beneath the picture of Sean Payton staring down at him, with a three-word message to his players: DO YOUR JOB.

Vitt's message to the defense, you might say, would come in four words: DO YOUR JOB: TACKLE.

What the defense did Friday was sort of erase most of the brownie points it had amassed the previous week against New England, when it dealt impressively against one of the top quarterbacks in the league, Tom Brady.

On Friday, Blaine Gabbert, a second-year quarterback who struggled as a rookie (with 12 touchdowns and 11 interceptions), was going 13-for-16, with two touchdowns in getting the Jaguars off to a 17-3 lead.

It was not a pretty sight.

In this week's Superdome meeting against the Houston Texans, the Saints will be mixing it with a club some feel has reached the stage of Super Bowl contender.

For one thing, the defense will face the job of tackling one of the best pair of ball carriers in the league in Arian Foster, who's coming off a 1,200-yard season, and Ben Tate, who last season rushed for 942 yards.

Meanwhile, Drew Brees and company will be going against a defense, coached by Wade Phillips, that last season finished second in the league after finishing 30th the year before.

As the fourth of five preseason opponents, the Texans are in position to answer more questions for the Saints than warm-ups against Arizona, New England and Jacksonville combined.

Listening to Joe Vitt say, "I've got a lot of coaching to do, I was very, very disappointed in our tackling," linebacker Scott Shanle took it as the kind of challenge that moved him to say, "We have the guys to be one of the best tackling teams out there. Just wait. You'll see."

What Saints fans saw in the first half was a defense that looked slow, tentative, did a poor job covering receivers, inside and outside. That definitely makes it, by far, the most demanding challenge going into the games that count.

For the offense, Friday's most anxious moment came when tight end Jimmy Graham was badly beaten on a rush by the Jaguars' Jeremy Mincey.

It not only forced a lost fumble by Brees, but left him shaking his throwing hand. Said Mincey: "I made an inside move on Graham and took the quickest path to the quarterback."

Brees will tell you his 10-for-13, one-touchdown evening could have been better.